Quality of Hawaii’s Avocados Moving towards import replacement

Marisa WallUSDA, ARS, PBARC

Ted Radovich, Marc Meisner, Glen Fukumoto – UH-CTAHRKen Love – HTFGFrancis Zee – USDA, ARS, PBARC

• Avocados are nutrient-dense fruits: high in unsaturated fats, fiber, niacin, folate, lutein, potassium, iron, vitamins B6, C, E, K.

• Hawaii avocado cultivars are considered by many as gourmet fruit because of their nutty flavor and creamy texture.

SharwilKahaluuMalamaLinda

Local Hass

A survey and taste test by Hawaii chefs identified five avocado cultivars with potential gourmet quality.

Avocado imports into Hawaii are increasing.

• Local avocados contribute ~30% of total demand.

• Supply of imported avocados into Hawaii has tripled.

• Imported avocados cost 3-4 times more than local avocados.

Goals: Determine quality standards for Hawaii’s avocados. Replace imported avocados with Hawaii-grown fruit.

• Determine quality using objective analyses.

• Develop database of objective quality criteria that correlates with sensory quality and market appeal.

• Use quality criteria to evaluate and identify avocado germplasm with market potential.

Avocado Oil Content

• HDOA specifies minimum 12% oil content for "Hawaii Fancy" and "Hawaii No. l" grades.

• Avocado cultivars vary widely: 10% to >30% oil.• Avocados harvested at 12% oil could be immature, with

a watery taste and rubbery texture.• Higher oil content generally correlated with higher

edible quality.• Measuring oil content requires laboratory analysis.

• Predominant maturity index for avocado harvesting.

• Highly correlated to oil content.

• Cultivar-specific: CA – Hass (20.8%), MX – Hass (21.5%), CA- Fuerte (19%), NZ – (24%)

Avocado Dry Matter Content

% Dry matter

20 25 30 35 40 45 50

% O

il c

on

ten

t10

15

20

25

30

35

r2 = 0.93 ***

y = -6.18 + 0.83x

Percent dry matter is highly correlated to oil content.

Mean dry matter = 34.2%

Mean oil content = 22.3%

Sharwil

Avocado fruit weight, dry matter, and oil content - 2010

Cultivar N Av. Fruit Wt (g) % Dry matter % Oil Content

Sharwil 36 350.84 d 42.48 a 27.92 a

Kahaluu 18 681.46 a 39.22 b 22.09 bc

Shattauer 19 423.57 c 39.15 b 23.75 b

MNL 18 348.97 d 38.22 b 23.97 b

Hass - local 30 206.25 f 38.18 b 21.55 cd

Hass - import 46 219.53 f 34.38 c 21.03 cd

Green Gold 19 291.06 f 31.57 d 19.80 d

Penata 17 539.32 b 28.84 e 16.80 e

Malama 26 507.34 b 28.16 e 13.55 f

MalamaKahaluu MNL

Sharwil Schatt GrnGld Hass-Impt

Tas

te

3.5

4.0

4.5

5.0

5.5

6.0

6.5

7.0

7.5

8.0

8.5

9.0

Sharwil Schatt GrnGld Hass-Impt

Ap

pea

ran

ce

3.5

4.0

4.5

5.0

5.5

6.0

6.5

7.0

7.5

8.0

8.5

9.0

c

b

aab

cbc

aba

Sharwil Schatt GrnGld Hass-Impt

Tex

ture

3.54.04.55.05.56.06.57.07.58.08.59.0

a

b

b b

Sensory analysis: Hawaii’s avocados and imported Hass fruit - 2010

Sensory descriptors for avocado cultivars

Cultivar Green Watery Bland Nutty Creamy

Sharwil 20% 3% 23% 66% 77%

Shattauer 8% 0% 23% 69% 77%

Green Gold 45% 20% 25% 50% 60%

Hass- import 59% 52% 26% 48% 67%

Shattauer

Hass Sharwil

Avocado tasting by 35 culinary professionals - 2010

Cultivar Texture rating % Dry matter % Oil Content

Sharwil 9.02 a 35.40 a 25.42 a

Green Gold 8.64 ab 36.53 a 27.07 a

Serpa 7.09 cd 35.76 a 23.01 b

Hass-local 8.34 ab 32.33 bc 22.43 b

Linda 6.19 d 27.01 d 18.83 c

Nishikawa 7.65 cd 29.59 cd 18.65 c

Egami 6.29 d 27.70 d 18.36 c

Ohata 4.44 e 23.55 e 13.97 d

Hass- import ------ 21.76 e 12.49 d

Conclusions

• Opportunity exists to replace imported avocados with locally grown fruit.

• Consistent supply of high quality avocados is key to capturing market and consumer acceptance.

• Sharwil, Kahaluu, Shattauer, MNL, GreenGold cultivars had better quality than imported Hass fruit.

• Analysis will be expanded to more cultivars and greater fruit numbers in 2011.

• SEND FRUIT – GRADE A ONLY!!

MahaloSandra SilvaSuzy SanxterAndrea LysyKate NishijimaJulia ScholderJenni Ueno

Ted RadovichKen LoveMarc MeisnerGlenn FukumotoFrancis Zee

Hawaii’s Tropical Fruit Growers!